Catherine Hardwicke Reiterates How Difficult It Was To Get 'Twilight' Made & Defends Female Directors!

Catherine Hardwicke speaks out about the difficulties women still face in Hollywood and points out that the directors for the next three ‘Twilight’ movies after her were all men!

Catherine Hardwicke directed the original Twilight movie, which of course was the beginning of what is now an internationally popular enterprise. But as many Twi-hards know, it was a struggle to make the film in the first place. Catherine spoke out about the difficulties she encountered while accepting an Inspiration Award from the Step Up Women’s Network organization on Friday. Nikki Reed was on hand to present Catherine with her trophy, and they both sang each other’s praises from the stage.

Nikki and Catherine sat at tables next to each other and both mentioned they were nervous to get on stage in front of such a large crowd. Nikki brought fluorescent orange index cards with her and chatted about meeting Catherine when she was five years old and the director was dating her father. She said she was hoping Catherine would look like a mermaid with blue hair and was disappointed when she found she didn’t and thought that made her “boring” although she soon learned that was far from the case. Catherine came up on stage and thanked Nikki, saying how great it was to watch Nikki grow into herself and become more confident as she grew up.

Catherine counseled the young women in the mentorship program, targeted at helping high school women in high-crime areas graduate high school. In fact, this year, every girl in the Step Up program graduated high school and is going to college! Catherine spoke about bringing the girls to her house and showing them where Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart first auditioned for the movie. She mentioned how difficult it was to get Twilight made since it had a female protagonist and was told from her point of view, and she mentioned that studios were worried “only sixty girls in Salt Lake City” would watch the film.

She spoke about hoping women get more recognition as directors, especially since less than 10% of directors in Hollywood are female. Catherine said she was proud of Twilight’s success with a female protagonist and lead actress, and female director. She also pointed out that although the movie has surpassed everyone’s expectations, the directors for the next four movies are male.

Do you think Twilight should have kept their girl power going and hired female directors for the rest of the films? Or are you happy with how everything turned out?